


Their Favorite Student

by FrankieQuinn13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: I don't want to spoil it, M/M, Not Beta Read, Older Man/Younger Man, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Teacher-Student Relationship, Too excited not to post, still working on it, tags will be added chapter 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-02-28 18:04:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18761608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankieQuinn13/pseuds/FrankieQuinn13
Summary: James, Sirius and Remus encounter three new enemies. Enemies they could have never anticipated. Enemies that were annoyingly infatuated with Severus Snape. The new teachers at Hogwarts: Professor Abbey, Professor Cartwright and Professor Newport





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So I haven't forgotten about My Everything, the last chapter will be posted in due time. I was just really excited about this one
> 
> Apologies spelling, grammar and OOCness (Seriously I didn't really edit much)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its charracters

 

Professor Jacob Cartwright. He was tall with short brown hair with a longer fringe going down the side of his face, lightly tanned skin and green eyes. The girls adored him, they were constantly vying for his attention and he seemed to welcome their unending fawning for the most part, giving a charming smile every chance he got making them all swoon. He’s the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and he was actually quite good at his job. He was ten times better than the last professor they had everyone thought so but even so-

Sirius loathed him.

And why did Sirius loath the professor?

Well…

N.E.W.T’s were just weeks away, to save time they had more mixed classes. Slytherin was usually paired with Gryffindor, something most of the students from both houses would complain about for hours at a time.

D.A.D.A was one of those classes.

The period had just started, professor Cartwright was having them practice the spell that he’d been teaching them in a previous period. The desks were moved off to the side, students were standing scattered across the large dimly lit room, wands raised as they tried the first part of the spell, most of them were failing but there’s only one student that their handsome charming oh so wonderful professor was paying any attention to.

“Mr Snape, having a bit of trouble?” the man said as he approached the raven haired Slytherin. Said raven haired Slytherin paused in surprise before quickly averting his gaze.

“Oh, I’m fine sir.”

“Professor Cartwright, I’d like some help.” A brown haired girl said, raising her hand a few feet away. Professor Cartwright waved her off dismissively.

“Flick your wrist to the right, Ms Mills, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” The older man said the girl huffed as she went back to practicing the spell. Professor Cartwright stopped at Snape’s side and gave him a soft smile.

“Now now Mr Snape, there’s no need to be shy. Here let me help you. Like this,” The professor said stepping in behind the teen and reaching out to position his hands, lifting his wand hand to mimic the necessary wand movements. The brunette leaned forward close to Snape’s ear, “See just like that, first to the left and then the right.”

Snape started to flush, “Yes sir.”

The older man chuckled, “You’re much too tense Mr Snape, you need to relax.” No one noticed, everyone was too busy with the spell, they didn’t notice the way the professor pressed even closer to Snape’s back. They didn’t see the way that Snapes blush went one shade darker as the older man spoke.

“Arch you back a bit more and tilt your head back just like that.” The brunette smirked as he used his free hand to take hold of Snape’s chin and moved his head. Professor Cartwright spoke with his lips mere inches away from Snape’s. “You need to feel the magic move inside you, coursing through your body. Understand?”

Snape seemed to shiver, “Yes-yes professor.”

“Very good.”

This.

This is why Sirius loathes professor Jacob Cartwright.

Stormy grey eyes filled with rage, Sirius’ jaw clenched, sparks started to light up the end of his wand as he watched the scene play out. Just then the teacher pulled back stepping away from the Slytherin and looked up at Sirius.

The man gave a snort as he turned around and continued his rounds through the class room.

“Mr Black, I suggest you stop gawking at your fellow classmates and get started before you fall behind.”

Sirius glared, hard.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Professor Paul Abbey

James despises him.

He’s the new Quidditch professor but he was also incredibly talented with Transfiguration. He taught flying to first and second years and sometimes, he’d stand in for professor McGonagall in some of her classes whenever Dumbledore needed her to take care of any other duties. N.E.W.T’s were coming up and professor McGonagall was busier than normal so of course professor Abbey took over her classes.

Professor Abbey had messy blonde hair and dark eyes, he had an average height with pale skin and a body that left very little doubt as to why he became the quidditch professor. The witches in school adored him, the wizards looked up to him, wanted to be just like him. He’s an incredible flyer and could transfigure just about anything.

Everyone loved him.

Except for James.

And why did James despise professor Paul Abbey?

“Ow!” James hissed when a hand connected hard with the back of his head and he looked up just in time to see the professor walk by his desk, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Some of the students giggled

“As attentive as ever Mr Potter.” The man said glancing back at the teen as he kept moving, “I should hope you’ll pay more attention during your game against Ravenclaw next week.”

James glared at the man’s back, fingers clenching around the quill in his hand as he watched the man until he paused at the desk right in front of him

Snape’s desks.

“Excellent work as always Mr Snape.” Professor Abbey said putting a hand on the teen’s shoulder. Snape looked up in surprise before he looked back down at the parchment before him.

“Thank you sir.”

This is why James despises professor Paul Abbey.

“Although,” the older man paused with a slight frown on his lips as he leaned over the slytherin, “This part here isn’t quite right. Transfiguring liquids can be a bit tricky you see. Doing it this way might cause an explosion.”

“Oh,” James could hear Snape’s tone drop with disappointment when the man smiled.

“This is some solid effort though. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a bit of tweaking. There’s still some time before you need to hand this in.” professor Abbey lowered his voice so only Snape could hear him but James was still sitting close enough to hear, “I could help you if you’d like. Some private tutoring should improve your transfiguration skills quite a bit.”

Snape looked up at that, “That really isn’t necessary professor-“

“I insist.” The man offered with a soft smile, “It might even give us some time to improve your flying. Today after lessons, just the two of us.”

“What about dinner?”

“I’ll have the elves throw something together, its best not to have any distractions. We have a lot of work to do.” Professor Abbey pulled back with a smile, reaching out to brush Snape’s hair behind his ear.

Snape blushed, “Yes professor.”

“Good.”

James’ quill snapped in half.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Professor Christopher Newport.

Remus… well it’s not that he disliked the Ancient Ruins professor. No it’s just.

Alright fine Remus hates him.

Hates him with a passion.

The older man has pitch black shaggy shoulder length hair and bright blue eyes, tall with broad shoulders and pale skin. He seemed like an intelligent man, quiet and reserved. The girls called him brooding and mysterious.

Why did Remus hate professor Newport?

“We’ll need this one and this one.” The professor said, taking one book after the other from the shelf while the slytherin beside him stood with at least three books of his own clutched against his chest.

Snape nodded to another just a few shelves above his head, “What about that one? I read it in third year when I was looking for references on curse breaking spells.”

Professor Newport reached up to the leather bound hardcover book to look at the cover and blinked in surprise.

“Cursed curses and the magix that bind them. This is an eighth year book. You read it in third?”

Snape gave a nod as he looked away and the man stared at him in awe, “Se-Mr Snape, that’s incredible. Thirteen years old and already reading at this level? You should’ve been pushed up by at least two grades. You never cease to amaze me.”

Snape blushed, “Thank you sir.”

“Come along, we’ll need all the time we can get if we’re going to finish your assignment in time.”

“Sir you really don’t need to help-“

“I want to.” Professor Newport said and a light blush seemed to flood the older man’s cheeks, “If you’d like, I could set some time aside, tutor you more often. I know you don’t really need it but, a little support always goes a long way.”

“I-“

The slytherin paused before looking up and giving the older man a smile, “Thank you sir.”

“It’s my pleasur-oh!”

Suddenly Snape seemed to trip over his own robes and he might have gone crashing to the ground had the older man beside him not moved quickly to reach out and catch him.

“Are you alright?” The man asked as he helped the slytherin stand up straight but didn’t remove his arm from around the teen’s waist. Snape flushed.

“I’m fine, thank you sir.”

“There’s no need to thank me.” Professor Newport said as he started walking steering them towards a desk near the back of the library still with his arm around Snape’s waist while Snape fought against the flush in his cheeks.

Remus watched the exchange from three shelves away where he was looking for a book for his potions test. He found a book started paging thprugh it when he caught sight of professor Newport and his star pupil.

The werewolf watched them settle at a desk on the opposite end of the library. When he looked down his eyes went wide when he saw the shredded remains for the book in his hand.

“Great.”

This…

This needs to end.

 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The door opened with a slam.

“This was not part of the deal!”

The three men in the room looked up at their visitors.

Professor Abbey and Cartwright sat at a small side table near the bookshelf playing wizard chess while professor Newport sat in a large plush chair beside the fireplace reading a book of some sort.

In the door stood three teens. Remus Lupin, James Potter and Sirius Black. They were furious.

The three professors spared the wizards just one more glance before going back to what they were doing before.

“What on earth are you talking about?” Professor Cartwright asked as he looked down at the board deep in thought. James stepped forward and his friends followed.

“Snape! Seducing him was not part of the deal!”

Professor Abbey looked up at that, “Excuse me?”

Professor Cartwright leaned back in his seat to give the boys a bored stare, “The deal was you get rid of Pettigrew, look after Regulus and work on getting your relationship with Lily off the ground.” The man said giving James a pointed look and the boy almost flinched back as he continued, “We take care of Severus. That was the deal.”

“I think we’ve been doing rather well on our end of our arrangement.”

“I do too. Don’t you think we’ve been doing well professor Newport?”

The man only nodded his head and professor Abbey hummed, “We’ve been doing extremely well. How about you?”

“Exactly what part of taking care of him requires you to seduce him?” James hissed and professor Abbey gave a shrug.

“None, that’s just a perk.”

Sirius’ hands clenched, Remus stepped forward, “What about those things the what’re they called-“

“The horcruxes?” Professor Newport supplied and professor Cartwright nodded, “Oh right, we already took care of those.”

“Oh, remember the look on Malfoy’s face when he realised the book was missing?”

“That was brilliant!”

“Almost as good as Padfoot falling off the boat once we got out of the cave.”

“I was tripping on poison potion!”

“You would’ve died if it weren’t for the potion Sev made for us.”

“Yeah, we really should do something for him. he’s been helping us so much and he’s had no idea why.”

“There’s a Cannons game this weekend.”

“Do you think Dumbledore will let us take him for the weekend?”

“I don’t see why not, we are his guardians.” Professor Cartwright said with a shrug. Remus frowned.

“Guardians?”

Professor Abbey looked up, “Yes guardians, we just got the paperwork finalised this weekend now all that’s left is to tell Severus.”

Professor Newport smiled, “Oh he’ll be so excited.”

“I know right-“

“Wait wait wait,” James said shaking his head with a deep frown on his face, “What do you mean guardians. You weren’t supposed to become his guardians you were supposed to blood adopt him. So he’d be your son?”

The three professors shared a look until Professor Cartwright spoke.

“There was a change of plans,” The man paused brushing his hair from his face, “We realised that a blood adoption was maybe just a touch bit extreme and could complicate things in the future.”

“Complicate what?” Remus asked incredulously when Sirius spoke with a dark glare in his eyes, “Oh I get it. Making him their son would complicate them trying to shag him whenever they want. That’s not going to happen by the way.”

Professor Cartwright gave a sigh, rolling his eyes as he got up off his seat to walk over to the bottle of fire whiskey perched in the corner near the shelf of books.

“Merlin, was I always this dramatic?”

“Honestly I don’t see what our relationship with Severus has to do with any of you.” Professor Abbey said pointedly looking at James yet again, “He’s safe, he’s protected and he’s well taken care of and besides, you hate him remember. What he does in his own time has nothing to do with you.”

James tensed, glaring at the older man with seething hatred but he didn’t say a word. Remus sighed.

“We got rid of Pettigrew, Sirius’ made peace with Regulus and Lily-“ The werewolf paused to look back at James, “James is working on it.”

“Not hard enough.” The blonde hissed and James’ jaw clenched, Remus took a step forward, “The point is that we’re doing our part the way we promised we would. You on the other hand-“

“Oh fine, we’re trying to seduce him so what?” Professor Newport hissed in frustration as he went back to reading his book.

“Professor Newport.” Professor Abbey said dramatically and the other man sighed in frustration. “Oh so what, Severus is happy isn’t he? Isn’t that what’s important? He’s happy. We’re happy. Why does anything else matter.”

“It matters because you’re too old for him!” Sirius all but screeched.

“Again! This has nothing to do with you.” Professor Cartwright said after taking a swig of whiskey, “He’s not taking the mark, he’s staying far away from he-who-must-not-be-named. Whatever we choose to do with him now is none of your business. Isn’t that right professor Abbey?”

“Oh enough with the professor crap!” Sirius hissed, the men only smirked at him, “You’re not professors of anything, you’re just-“

Knock knock knock!

“Hello? Professor Newport, Professor Cartwright?”

Six pairs of eyes went wide at the voice they heard on the other side of the door. The blonde sitting in the chair quickly reached into his holster to pull out his wand and aim it at the three teens in the room.

_“Stupefy!”_

With no time to react they were frozen almost immediately.

“Get the cloak.”

Professor Newport immediately moved to the other side of the room, digging around in the large brown chest at the side of the couch near the shelf while Professor Cartwright levitated the three teens closer and up against the wall. A cloak was thrown over them and they vanished from sight.

Knock knock knock!

Professor Abbey took a deep breath, patting down his robes and fixing his hair before taking a deep breath.

“Right then, ready?”

_Knock knock knock!_

“Ready.” The other two said and the blonde reached out and opened the door to reveal a raven haired teen with pale skin and the darkest eyes standing on the other side.

“Professor Abbey.” The teen said sounding a bit surprised as he tugged at the strap of his bag, “I thought you’d still be supervising quidditch practice.”

The blonde man shrugged, “We finished a bit earlier tonight. Come in, I assume there’s a reason you decided to visit us?”

“Yes sir.” The slytherin stepped into the room giving a shy smile as he looked up at the other men in the room. “Good evening professors.”

“I thought we already discussed this whole professor thing,” the Cartwright said with a smile as he stepped closer to the boy while Abbey shut the door behind him, “When we’re alone, you call us by our names.”

Severus flushed just a bit, “Yes professor-I mean- Jacob.”

Abbey rolled his eyes while Newport gave the teen a soft smile, “What are you doing here so late? Its almost curfew.”

“I know but,” the teen walked over to the couch and set his bag down on his lap. Newport and Abbey both sat on either side of him while Cartwright leaned over the back of the couch as the teen pulled out a worn looking note book, “I’m working on a project for potions and I was hoping I could get your advice.”

“Of course, anything you need.” Abbey said reaching out to tuck the raven’s hair behind his ear and Severus flushed just a bit more. The teen cleared his throat.

“Right well, the potion is a bit like the Polyjuice potion, it alters the subject’s physical form only it alter’s their essence as well.”

“A potion with transfiguration and curse like properties, with a touch of dark magic.” Newport said, “Impressive.”

“Severus,” Cartwright said reaching out to place a hand on the teen’s head, “We talked about all this dark stuff-“

“Not all dark magic is bad, some of it is actually quite… with the right balance of light magic it-it’s actually quite beautiful and-” Severus interrupted with a sigh, “It’s not a dark potion. At least not completely.”

“Dragon scales, unicorn blood… wolfsbane…” Newport cut himself off to stare at the teen, “You’re trying to find a counter for the werewolf’s curse.”

Cartwright blinked, “Oh.”

“I know it seems like a waste of time-“

“No, no of course its not a waste of time.” Abbey said with a soft smile, “This is wonderful Severus. How can we help?”

Severus gave them a small pleased smile as he arranged his notes.

Through all of this, James, Sirius and Remus watched from the other side of the room, anger raging through their veins.

This all started at the beginning of the year when Professor Cartwright, Newport and Abbey first started teaching at Hogwarts.

At first it was just a weird thing that they noticed. They noticed how the new professors were somewhat more friendly with Snape as opposed to everyone else.

It started off with the odd, “Well done, Mr Snape”, “As brilliant as ever Mr Snape”.

But Snape usually got praised in class so it wasn’t really that big of a deal. But then they noticed how the professors would suddenly just stop in the middle of a period to pause by Snape’s table to ask him how his day was going, if he managed to study over the weekend, if he needed extra help with whatever new assignment they got.

It was odd but Snape was always a know it all goody-goody student so they brushed it off. But then they noticed other things. Like how professor Abbey would always reach out to brush Snape’s hair back or actually run his fingers through the slytherin’s inky black locks when he clearly thought no one was looking. they noticed how professor Cartwright insisted on personally assisting Snape in performing whatever spell he’d taught them that week, not that he didn’t help the other students but he didn’t get quite as handsy with them as he did with Snape. They saw how professor Newport would have Snape stay behind after class and once the rest of the students had left and he thought they were alone, the older man would pull the Slytherin behind his desk, supposedly discussing one of Snape’s essays.

Then they were asking Snape assist them after classes ended for the day. Whispering in the slytherin’s ear during classes. Pulling Snape aside in the hall ways to have some sort of secret discussion.

The last straw however was when the professors started punishing the Marauders for pulling pranks. Now, they usually got punished for pulling pranks whenever they got caught in the act but they were usually able to get away with most of them with a slap of the wrist. Maybe only have one days’ detention or something like that.

That changed after the new professors started working at Hogwarts.

They were usually pretty lenient whenever the marauders pulled pranks on other students but they’d be ruthless whenever the pranks were aimed at Snape. One day’s detention would suddenly turn to three or four weeks worth. Arranging books and paperwork in class turned into scrubbing down the dungeon walls, cleaning potions instruments for Slughorn or cleaning out the stables. Most of the time they wouldn’t even be caught in the act but the professors would still punish them since they somehow just knew that they had something to do with the last prank pulled on the slytherin. They lost hundreds of house points between the three of them. So many points in fact that even other students in Gryffindor didn’t find the pranks they pulled to be funny anymore since they knew it would be another sixty to a hundred points deducted from Gryffindor.

They were actually quite pissed to be honest.

It wasn’t till about three months later that it all came to a head. This came after they were sneaking around the hallways one night, trying to sneak back into Gryffindor Tower when they found the older men whispering among themselves in an empty hall after curfew.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I checked to make sure Severus was still in bed. Malfoy hasn’t gotten the chance to sink his hooks into him just yet.” Professor Abbey whispered, “You know it’s a little disturbing how easy it is for professors to get into dorm rooms.”

“Exactly why can’t I check in on Severus again?”

“Because you don’t know how to keep your hands to yourself.”

“You can’t be trusted with him alone in his bedroom.”

“Oh please, like you don’t get turned on every time he calls you professor with that ridiculous look in his eyes.”

“Seriously its like they go on forever.” Professor Abbey said, “Why didn’t I notice that when we were younger?”

“You were too busy with Lily to notice.”

James tensed, “Lily?”

Abbey rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I’m not interested in her now so-“

“Speaking of your errant wife,” Cartwright started as they made their way down the hall, “You know who hasn’t been paying much attention to her. Have you noticed?”

Abbey sighed, “Yes, I’ve noticed.”

Newport shook his head, “You know why this is happening James-“

“James?” the three boys gasped in unison as Newport continued.

“You shouldn’t have interfered with what happened at the lake.”

“I couldn’t do that. Lily made me promise that I’d make sure she and Severus stayed friends and besides, I can’t stand the thought of him hating me. I had to stop it.”

Cartwright huffed, “Well now thanks to you we have to find some other way of forcing them together. We can’t risk losing Harry.”

The three men were moving closer now, Abbey sighed in frustration. “I know I know, I’ll think of something. Honestly though, this would’ve all been so much easier if I weren’t such an arrogant little twat-“

And then suddenly the blonde stopped right in his tracks, staring right at the spot where the marauders stood huddled under the invisibility cloak. James’ eyes went wide. Remus put a hand over his mouth to stop from breathing and Sirius instinctively moved closer to his friends.

“James, what’s wrong?” Newport asked in confusion, but the blonde didn’t answer so the two men turned to look in the direction where the other was staring. Cartwright’s eyes went wide.

“Shit!” he hissed and then he suddenly pulled out his wand. The three teens had no time to react before.

_“Stupefy!”_

The spell hit them and they froze involuntarily. Professor Abbey moved forward and much to the marauders horror pulled the invisibility cloak right off before his eyes went wide along with professor Newport's.

“Oh Merlin.” Newport gasped while Cartwright kept cursing in the background.

“Shit, shit shit! Wait O.K, maybe they didn’t hear-“

“We can’t know for sure.” Abbey said not looking away from the  teens’ frozen forms for a moment before he spoke, “We can’t leave them here. C’mon we’ll take them to the room.”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Been a while
> 
> Thanks for the reviews
> 
> I'll be posting on My Everything at some point, so don't worry about that
> 
> Usual apologies
> 
> Disclaimer: See previous chapter

“Professors?!”

The three men turned around and froze when they saw the pale raven-haired boy standing behind them in the vacant hallway. Cartwright gaped like a fish out of water and Newport just stood absolutely still.

“What are you doing?” Severus asked with a deep frown as he stared at the three teens levitating just above the men’s heads. Abbey quickly forced a smile onto his face as he approached the boy while Snape continued to frown.

“Aren’t those, what are-“

“It’s nothing you need to worry about Severus.” Abbey said as he placed a hand on the teen’s shoulder, “We caught these three trouble makers trying to sneak into the Hufflepuff common room with a bag filled with dung bombs.” The blonde shook his head, “We were just about to call the headmaster. Isn’t that right?”

Professor Cartwright nodded enthusiastically.

“Terrible miscreants aren’t they Ja – I mean Paul.”

“Yes yes, just awful.”

“Severus you shouldn’t be out this late, its passed curfew.” Newport said as he seemed to help steer the levitating teens away a few more feet. Abbey gave the raven a soft smile.

“He’s right you know. What are you doing out this late?”

Severus paused and pulled a book he’d had concealed in his robes, “I just wanted to return this. I suddenly remembered that I never gave it back and-“

“Severus this was a gift, you’re not supposed to give it back.”

“But, I couldn’t accept this. It must have cost a fortune-“

“If you really want to make it up to me then you can help me mark the first-year papers, tomorrow night.” The blonde said reaching out to brush the raven’s hair back behind his ear and cupped his face, “I could really use the help.”

Snape looked away, a soft blush flooding his cheeks. “Yes sir.”

“Good, now off to bed. Before one of the prefects catch you.” Abbey said turning the boy around and steering him in the opposite direction.

“Actually, there’s a perfect way to make sure the prefects don’t catch him.” Professor Cartwright suddenly said and they both stopped. Abbey looked up at him with a frown when his  face suddenly lit up with a smile.

“You’re absolutely right, Si-I mean Jacob.” Abbey turned back towards them and took a bundle of shimmering material from Cartwright’s hands. Newport gave a snort as he shook his head. The blonde grinned warmly as he held the material up.

“This, is an invisibility cloak.” The professor said holding the material up around him and Severus’ eyes went wide when he noticed parts of the older man disappear out of sight.

“It’s incredible.”

“It’s useful.” Abbey then pulled the cloak off and wrapped it around the Slytherin’s shoulders and Severus just watched on in shock, “Now get to bed, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sir, I couldn’t-“

“Calm down Severus. You can give it back tomorrow evening when you come help me with the marking.”

“But professor-“ Snape started lifting the material up to look, “I can’t, Potter and his friends. They’re always running my things, I couldn’t bear it if-“

“You don’t have to worry about them, Severus. We’ll take care of everything.” Newport said with a warm smile of his own, “Off you go, back to bed.”

Severus looked like he wanted to argue but paused and gave them a shy smile instead. “Thank you, sirs. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Severus.” Abbey said as the teen disappeared from sight and he could hear his footsteps fading down the hall.

He turned around and faced the other, “Right then, time to deal with these three.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

James is a firm believer in love at first sight. In the belief that there’s just one person on the face of this earth that’s meant for you. That’s how it happened for his parents after all. His mum saw his dad across the table at school during the opening feast and they both knew that they meant something to each other, something important.

When James stepped onto the Hogwarts express for the first time, when he walked into that compartment with the raven-haired boy and the redheaded girl whispering softly amongst themselves… James isn’t sure what it was that he felt.

The girl was beautiful. Long red hair and bright green eyes, a bright welcoming smile on her face.

The boy was odd. James wasn’t sure what to make of him. He was pale, with raven hair falling limply around his face with a pair of dark obscenely intelligent eyes.

It’s those dark eyes that pulled him in and kept him from walking away when it was clear that they weren’t welcome in the carriage. And then it happened, Severus uttered the words that would bring James’ world crashing down in a matter of seconds.

He said that he hoped to be sorted into Slytherin. Slytherin! It was one of the most baffling moments of James’ life. Only the nastiest of pureblood kids said that they wanted to be sorted into Slytherin and the boy, Severus Snape, didn’t look like one of those kids. James reacted in the worst way possible and essentially guaranteed that he and Severus wouldn’t be getting along for some time, even though that hadn’t been his intention. His intentions had been to convince Severus that he shouldn’t be in Slytherin. That any other house would be better than to be placed in Slytherin but James soon learned that the raven-haired boy was as stubborn as he was.

They were sorted and everything just went downhill from there.

He didn’t realise how bad things had gotten till sixth when Sirius decided to play the worst prank imaginable. Tricking Snape into going to the shack was the absolute worst idea in the world. There’s so much that could have gone wrong, so many terrible outcomes that James couldn’t even begin to imagine what Sirius was thinking when he did it. James has played pranks on Severus, terrible pranks but they’ve never been so bad that they could have potentially gotten the other teen killed.

It nearly stopped his heart when Sirius told him what he’d done. He ran out to the whomping willow and made it just in time to drag Snape out through the hole and over to the lake. James was so scared that he almost didn’t notice just how scared Severus was.

His body was shaking hard, his eyes were wide and terrified. He held the Slytherin against his chest as they both tried to calm down and somehow, even through the fear, James couldn’t help but feel like all was right in the world. But of course, that didn’t last long and Severus seemed to hate him more than before.

Severus wanted nothing to do with him by that time the Slytherin’s relationship with Lily had also been harmed beyond repair, which was also technically James’ fault. The Slytherin was suddenly just so much further out of his grasp than he was before. and then there was Lily, beautiful, clever and kind Lily. Severus’ Lily. Somehow it just made sense.

Lily was beautiful. Lily was intelligent. And Lily was the one person Severus loved more than anyone else. Pursuing a relationship, a real relationship with the girl, just made sense. If he couldn’t love Severus, if he couldn’t care and protect Severus. Then he‘d love and protect the person that Severus loved most in the world. Somehow it made sense, somehow it almost felt like it made up for what happened with Severus.

He married Lily right after graduation, about a month after Severus Snape seemed to drop off the face of the earth. Less than a week after the rumours started to circulate that the brilliant raven had joined the Death Eater ranks. He was happy to marry the red head, he was ready to start a new life with her. Never mind that he nearly crumbled when he found a gift from Severus to Lily among the many others after the wedding. Never mind that he heard himself gasp out Severus’ name the night that Harry was conceived. Lily never mentioned that she found the gold locket with a picture of Severus and Lily as children hidden in one of the drawers in James’ study. She never said a word about hearing what he said that night.

Then Harry was born, the prophecy was revealed and Peter betrayed them. James’ last moments were something like torture. Voldemort’s spell didn’t kill him immediately. He watched from his place on the floor in the hallway outside of Harry’s door. As the life slowly drained from his veins he watched as Voldemort killed his wife and tried to do the same with his son. Harry survived, Voldemort was injured and fled. Severus arrived sometime after that. The raven had stopped by his side for just a moment, reached out to touch him, run his fingers through James hair as he lay the man onto his back. Those large obsidian eyes were filled with shock and fear, he opened his mouth to speak before just closing it again.

And then Severus left him, off to Lily’s side, he heard the man cry out in agony almost as loud as the cries that came from Harry’s crib and James could swear he felt his heart break anew as the edges started to blur and he was slowly sucked into the darkness. He wished for just a moment, that he could have a second chance. Another chance to do it all over again. To fix the things he broke and save the one’s he lost.

Just one more chance.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“So, you’re in love with him?”

Remus lifted his hands to cover his face, “Merlin Tonks do you really just have to say it like that?”

“Well what am I supposed to say to my husband confessing his ever-lasting love for my old potions professor?” The woman said still staring up at the ceiling, “Don’t get me wrong, it was kind of obvious but I feel like I have the right to be a bit shocked.”

Remus dropped his hands and turned his head to look at her, “You’re taking this well.”

Tonks shrugged, “Its not the worst thing you could have told me. Besides, you could do worse than Snape. Are you going to tell him?”

Remus gave a snort, “Of course not, I said I’m in love with him didn’t say anything about going mad.”

Tonks looked at him with a grin, “You’re afraid of him?”

“Petrified.”

Tonks laughed, “You’re not the only one. I swear he has to have some kind of magical inheritance. It can’t be a coincidence. He’s completely terrifying at yet oddly alluring all at once.”

Remus looked at the  woman with an arched brow and she smiled, “You’re not the only one I’ve caught pining over professor Snape.”

“Of course not.” Remus sighed, “I wouldn’t even be surprised if he was aware of it.”

“What, you think Snape knows and he’s just ignoring your feelings and constantly insulting you in some twisted attempt at torture?” Tonks paused, “Actually, saying it out loud that makes perfect sense.”

Remus shook his head, “You’re not making me feel any better.”

Tonks shrugged, “They say love is supposed to feel like torture.”

“I’m not sure how true that is.”

Tonks laughed, “When did this start anyway?”

“Second year. Slughorn had us paired together for a potion’s assignment. He’d ignore me completely whenever James and the others were around but when we were alone, he was so… soft.”

“Soft?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. He was a snarky prat, even back then but somehow when it was just us he was just so lovely. I thought, as long as I don’t do anything and as long as James and Sirius don’t take things too far then I could always have this. I could sit next to him in class or in the library and he’d always be that lovely, but then things went wrong. So many things went horribly wrong and now-“

“Your entire existence disgusts him.”

Remus gave Tonks a withering glare, “You don’t have to be so blunt about it.”

She laughed again, “It might not be too late you know.”

He turned his head to give her a bored look, “It’s like you’ve never actually met Severus Snape.”

“I’m serious.” Tonks said as she turned over so she was lying on her side, her head propped up on her hand as she spoke, “After all of this, when it ends-“

“If it ends.” Remus said and Tonks just rolled her eyes,

“When it ends. He won’t have to be a spy, you won’t have to be afraid. You could apologise and try to start over.”

“I think its too late for that.”

“It’s never too late.”

Remus shook his head, “Too much has happened. Too many things have changed. If we were still in school, if I’d had more time to at least set myself apart from James and Sirius. But I was too much of a coward back then.”

“But you aren’t now.”

“What about Sirius? He’d never-”

“If he really cares about you then it won’t matter if you’re in a relationship with Snape or not. If your friend is standing in the way of your happiness then they aren’t really your friend.”

Remus looked up at her, “What about you?”

Tonks sighed leaned over to press a kiss on his cheek and gave a small smile, “Who am I to stand in the way of love.”

Remus gave a snort and shook his head, “I think we’ll just wait to cross that bridge when we get to it. We need to make sure there’s future to look forward to before we start making plans for it.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“You think so?”

“Its better to fight when you have something to live for. You have Snape and I have the fabulous life of a divorcee to live forward to.” Remus laughed and Tonks did the same only for her smile to falter just a bit, “But you should tell him, in case… well- make sure you don’t die with regrets. A soul can’t rest if it doesn’t have peace.”

Remus held Tonks gaze for a moment before he leaned up to kiss her on the lips.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Sirius!"

Well isn't this a bitch.

"Sirius."

More than twenty years have passed with Sirius fighting, teasing, torturing and just plain hating the greasy haired bat hovering just above him and now that he was just moments away from giving his last breath, now that there isn't any more time left, now that he would finally be separated from his greatest enemy for all eternity.

Now's the moment he realizes that he's been in love with this snarky bastard and his oversized nose since the moment they met.

Severus Snape.

"Sirius, you worthless mutt!"

Oddly enough, Sirius didn't pay attention to the insult this time, he focused solely on his name. Taking in how strongly enticing it was to hear Severus say his first name. In the days that he was still skulking around Hogwarts while he was in hiding, he heard a few students groan about their evil potions professor who was obviously out to get them, but then swoon over his deep voice.

He's never really thought about it himself but now that he really thought about it, Severus has an oddly inviting but dark voice.

Hell, you could almost say it was downright sexy.

Why hasn't he noticed this before?

"Of all the times for your incompetent idiotic arse to die you decide to do it now. Just bloody typical." Severus hissed and Sirius could feel the potions masters hand press down to try and stop the flow of blood coming from the snake bite on his neck.

Severus' hands felt surprisingly smooth against his skin, not even half as cold as he expected a cold hard snake like him to be. It actually felt quite nice.

"You're supposed to be at the front lines right now you moronic twit! What the devil could have possibly possessed you to come to the shrieking shack?!"

Well Sirius isn't quite sure what possessed him to go there either.

I suppose you could say he volunteered.

Someone needed to go to the shack and see what you-know-who was up to and who better than the brave and valiant Sirius Black.

Unfortunately, Sirius had arrived just in time to see the Dark Lord leave while his pet Nagini prepared to attack Snape upon her master’s command.

Things sort of get a little fuzzy from there.

"I suppose that moronic Gryffindor mentality is what drove you to come charging in here like some knight in shining armour. Stupid idiot."

Sirius wanted to give a snort at that but all he managed to do was give a pained cough that brought him back to the reality of the pain he was feeling.

Nagini's poison had left him paralyzed while its properties worked its way all through his body, systematically bursting blood cells and shutting down tissue. All while sending excruciating pain through his nerves system.

The animagus gave a pained moan when Snape spoke again.

"If I could just get to my potions lab, there could be time to make an antidote." Severus mumbled quietly when his voice suddenly went back to a snarl.

"You hot-headed idiot! Do you ever think before you act?" Sirius wished he could step back as he felt like a bratty little second year being scolded by his professor. "Did you think about what your actions would lead to before just charging in here?! Did it even cross your mind that you might be needed here? Did your oh so cherished godson even drift into your range of thoughts?"

At that Sirius was filled with guilt.

Harry.

He'd forgotten about him completely. Would he be alright all alone here in this world once the war was over? Sure he had the Weasleys and all his friends, but he and Harry have grown quite attached to one another over the course of the past few years.

Merlin he really is a hot-headed idiot!

But he couldn't just stand there and do nothing while Severus was killed, it wouldn't have been right. He had to do something to save Snape hopefully Harry would understand.

"The dark lord will be back soon to see if Nagini did her job." Severus said with a sigh, "I doubt he'll take it well seeing his precious pet splattered all over the wall. There won't be time to get us both out of here. I should just leave you here like the pathetic mutt you are, but I don't really think that would make much of a difference."

What does he mean by that?

"He'd just try to find me and hunt me down and with the order kept in the dark over Dumbledore's survival I have no doubt I'd be dead before I even reached the castle walls."

Sirius sputtered and chocked trying to speak but failing due to pain.

Albus is alive?

How?

"You know for a jail rat you are quite handsome, although this could just be the delirium from my impending death talking. But... I suppose I understand where my attraction towards you in first came from."

Wait what?!

Severus used to like him?

"Of course you were an intolerant, idiotic, arrogant bastard back then. You still are actually, it's no wonder I got over it so quickly. Call me petty, but I don't think I could forgive you and Potter for what you did to me. Even if we weren't about to die, I don't think I'd ever forgive you."

Well that's... Disappointing.

"But if we weren't about to die, I think I'd be able to move passed it. After all, life's too short to mourn over a school crush that tortured me every day until I graduated."

Sirius almost grimaced at how that sounded, were they really that hard on him?

"I might have even accepted Kingsley's offer to go out with him at some point that is if he was still interested. But I suppose I'll never know."

Shacklebolt fancies Snape?

Now there's something Sirius didn't expect.

It was silent for a moment and Sirius could feel pain begin to throb in his throat as it started to constrict and his lungs clench and burn.

It won't be long now.

Severus gave a sigh after another moment's silence when Sirius heard the sound of material ruffling before a soft press of lips met his and he felt shock rip through his mind.

Did Severus just...

"Disgraceful, my last kiss in all my thirty-six years and I give it to a half dead mutt just moments before my own death, how utterly depressing. I should have shagged Kingsley when I still had the chance."

Really?

If Sirius weren’t in so much pain he probably would’ve rolled his eyes at that one.

“Still, I suppose this is as good a way as any to die, truthfully I’m surprised that I managed to hold out for this long.” Severus let out a sigh looking down at the other for a moment before he spoke, “If there is someplace beyond this world and you somehow manage to end up on the good side of things. Tell Lily I’m sorry, for everything.”

For a moment the sadness and regret that he could clearly hear in Snape’s voice overruled the pain he was feeling and he desperately wished that he could speak and just say something to comfort the other when a sharper more intense pain suddenly shot right up his spine and Sirius screamed. But Severus’ head just snapped up at another sound he could hear coming from just beyond the room.

“Someone’s coming.” Severus said just after Sirius’ scream died away and the animagus’ felt the dark unrelenting fog of sleep start to take him. “Black? Black?! Sirius goddamn it?!”

Oh perfect, his last moments alive and he’s being cursed at by the person he realizes he’s been in love with since he was eleven years old.

Yup, definitely a bitch.

And then suddenly light, bright welcoming light that made Sirius feel safe and warm. At first Sirius couldn’t see much of anything as he stood in the bright empty void when the light almost seemed to move and form into colours and shapes and suddenly he wasn’t standing anymore but sitting by a table in a kitchen. An oddly familiar looking kitchen actually.

It looked like-

“Hungry?” A plate filled with what looked like pumpkin pasties was set before him and Sirius frowned as he looked up at the person standing beside him only for his eyes to go wide and his mouth to fall open in shock.

Shoulder length red hair fell over her shoulder and bright emerald green eyes beamed at him as the woman smiled and Sirius just stared as she continued.

“I’m afraid I can’t really offer you much else for the moment.” The woman gave a slight frown as she finished, “The turkey’s not near being done yet and I don’t think you’ll be here long enough to have a bite.”

“L-Lily?” Sirius stuttered as Lily gave his arm an affectionate squeeze before she turned away, “Were you expecting someone else?” Lily shook her head, “Still as slow as ever I see. Would you like some tea, pumpkin juice maybe?”

Sirius felt his chest ache with heartache at the sight of his best friend’s wife, Harry’s mother and swallowed hard before he spoke, “Yeah, tea would be lovely.”

Lily nodded, “What about you?”

It was just then that Sirius noticed the other person sitting at the table as he read through what looked like a copy of the Daily Prophet and that ache in his chest got stronger as his eyes began to sting.

“Actually I’d prefer a spot of whiskey.” James answered as he lowered the newspaper and Lily glanced back at him with a roll of her eyes, “Yes well, unfortunately you’re not getting any. Tea or juice, pick one.”

James gave a dramatic sigh, “Tea.”

“James…” Sirius breathed and felt the immediate urge to leap from his seat and wrap his friend in a tight hug, but some unknown force kept him seated right where he was. The other wizard looked up at him and gave him that bright smile, eyes beaming from the frame of his glasses, “Sirius, you’re looking good mate… well better than can be expected considering where you are.”

“I-I don’t…” Sirius‘ mind was whirling with so many questions he couldn’t really think straight so he simply settled for the simplest question he could. “How?”

Lily frowned as she suddenly appeared at his side again and set down a tray that held a silver kettle and three teacups with saucers, “You don’t remember? You, Sirius you, well you’re-“

“Dead.” James said quickly seeming to try and get the words out before he could convince himself otherwise, “Well half way there at least, we managed to get to you before you went through all the way.”

“Do you remember what happened before you got here?” Lily tried her eyes piercing his in pleading desperation, “Don’t you remember the Shack? Remember Severus?”

And right at that moment Sirius gasped when it all suddenly came back to him and he stared wide eyed at the two before him.

Right, the war; Nagini bit him Severus was there and now Severus is alone. Left to deal with Voldemort on his own or whoever it was that was headed for them before he blacked out.

The animagus started to panic and he started breathing hard as he tried to stand up only for that force to keep him still all over again, “Severus… he’s alone! I have to get to him, he doesn’t stand a chance alone-“

“It’s too late.” Lily said sadly as she started pouring out tea her voice steady and firm despite the tears Sirius could already see shining in her eyes, “He’s dead.”

“But-"

“Harry finds him after you die. After the war he tries to tell them about what Severus did but the ministry is forced to execute him in order to keep the public pacified. He gets the dementors kiss.”

“But I just left-"

“Time works differently here.” Lily said softly, “It’s too late.”

“But why isn’t he here?”

“He made peace with his death.”

“Even if you wanted to you couldn’t go back, not like this anyway.” James said as he looked up at his wife in deep concern before bringing his attention back to his best friend, “I mean, exactly where do you think you are right now mate?”

Sirius froze, admittedly he should’ve realized sooner.

“So this… I really am.”

“Half way there, but not quite dead.” James said just as Lily set a tea cup in front of Sirius before moving over to sit beside her husband and James wrapped a hand around her own with a soft smile. Sirius still frowned.

“If that’s true then-“

“Something smells lovely.”

And then Remus stepped out from seemingly nowhere to take the seat in front of him. Sirius’ eyes went wide.

“Remus? But what-… No you can’t be-“

“Sirius there isn’t time to explain right now.” Remus said looking across the table to James, “The portal is weakening. Tonks is trying to keep it open but there isn’t much time.”

“What-“

“Sirius, you loved Severus didn’t you?”

Sirius was thrown for a loop and he would have reared back if he could, “How-“

“I know because I loved him as well, just like James loved him.” Remus explained and Sirius’ head snapped over to his best friend who let out a huff as he dragged a hand through his hair.

“Is it my fault he’s so infuriatingly… Snape?” the bespectacled wizard let out scoff and shook his head, “I always hoped, I dreamed that I could have a second chance with him. To make things right and start over again. Haven’t you ever wanted the same thing?”

Sirius paused to look away as he thought to his last few moments, to the kiss he got but never felt. “Yeah.”

“Well we’ve found a way.” Lily suddenly said as she took the last seat at the table and Sirius’s gaze snapped up towards her.

“What-“

“We really have Severus to thank.” Lily beamed, “Some of that research he was doing on dark magic rubbed off on me. I managed to open a portal back to the past but I could only get it to go as far as our sixth year at school. Which actually works out quite nicely when you think about it.”

“Why’s that?”

“Sixth year is the year that Severus took the dark mark. It’s the last time that I ever spoke to him.” Lily explained sadly before shaking her head, “We’ve managed to figure it out you see. If we can send someone back to that year, we could change everything, fix everything that was done wrong.”

“If Severus never takes the mark, Voldemort never gets his hands on him.” Remus said sitting up a little straighter and making sure he was keeping eye contact with his friend, “He never finds out about the prophecy. We’d be able to stop Peter from ever getting close enough to betray us, James and Lily never die, you never go to Azkaban and Severus doesn’t have to become a spy. All we have to do is send someone back, and we can fix everything. Save Harry, destroy the horcruxes, there never has to be a war. And then there’d be a second chance, to make things right with Severus. A second chance to be with him.”

Sirius took in a deep breath feeling like a lot of information was being dumped on him all at once, but he also felt something warm and hopeful settle in his chest at Remus’ words.

A second chance.

“Alright, alright… so who are we sending?”

“That’s the best part.” Lily started to grin as she looked over to James who gave a snort, “I had planned to go myself but it turns out dark magic is a little trickier than Severus made it seem.”

“What do you mean?”

“I cast the spell myself and so I can’t use the portal myself, someone else has to go. And I have to stay here to make sure the portal holds until they make it to the other side.” Her smile grew, “On the upside because I’ll be holding the portal open until they get there, it means we can send more than just one person.”

“So…”

“So my darling husband has decided to leave me for my sixteen year old best friend. The nerve.” Lily teased and James laughed, Remus chuckled before and Sirius looked away.

“Oh so James is going.”

“I’m going too and we were wondering if you wanted to come with us?” Remus asked and Sirius’ eyes widened for the millionth time that day.

“What… really?”

“You didn’t think we’d ever split up the marauders did you mate?” James grinned Sirius returned the gesture only to pause.

“Wait, what about you?” he said looking to Lily who shrugged.

“If you all do your part, then everything will work out just fine. I can’t send you back as yourselves, you’ll still be in your bodies but slightly altered to accommodate you in the timeline. Do you remember professor Cartwright, Abbey and Newport?”

“No.”

“They were supposed to start teaching at Hogwarts in sixth year but then they got into some kind of accident and never made it.” Lily explained, “You are taking their places. We have your identities sorted, and a plan of action, you’re the last piece of the puzzle. Are you in?”

Sirius paused, “We’ll get to save everyone, including Severus.” Why was he even hesitating?

“I’m in.”

James and Remus grinned, Lily hopped out of her seat and reached over to give the animagus a hug. “That’s perfect. Just make me a promise Sirius.”

“Sure Lily, anything you want.”

The woman pulled back and gave him a soft smile, “Keep Sev safe for me.”

Sirius eyes softened as well as he gave a nod, “Of course.”

“Um excuse me? What makes you automatically assume that Severus is going to fall for him?” James asked folding his arms over his chest. Lily rolled her eyes.

“I meant it for all of you. As long as Sev is happy then you can all jump into bed together for all I care, just don’t hurt him.”

Remus seemed to flush, “I’m not sure it’ll go that far Lily. He’ll be sixteen and well…”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Let’s just get through the portal before it closes.”

“Right.” James, and Remus both got up and Lily looked down at Sirius and smiled, “Ready for a new start?”

Sirius took in a deep breath, he thought back to his last moments with Severus. To those final moments before they were separated and he knew.

“More than ready.”

“Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please review

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Please review


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